Lost hikers return from Sacred Falls trail

Four hikers who failed to return from Sacred Falls State Park on Saturday made it out safely, a Fire Department spokesman said.

Three men and one woman, all in their 20s, began their hike around 4 a.m. Saturday and were due back around 6 p.m., Capt. Carlton Yamada said. A father of one of the hikers called around 10:30 a.m. Sunday to report them missing.

Rescue crews prepared to search for the overdue hikers with the department's helicopter this morning but made contact with them via phone and found out that they were 10 minutes away from the trailhead, Yamada said.

The hikers were also met by Honolulu Police Department officers and state Department of Land and Natural Resources officials, but Yamada said he is unsure whether they were cited for entering the closed park.

Sacred Falls State Park was closed in 1999 following a rockfall in the canyon that killed eight hikers and injured many others.